Dare
by redcandle
Summary: Katie won't refuse any dare, even one to kiss Marcus Flint. MarcusKatie. Fluffy ficlet.


"Dare" by Redcandle17

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and elements from the Harry Potter series belong to J.K. Rowling. No copyright infringement is intended.

None of them had boyfriends, which made Valentine's a very depressing time of the year. Angelina suggested they create their own romantic fun. Alicia suggested kissing boys they liked. Not wanting to be outdone, Katie suggested kissing boys chosen by each other instead. She was beginning to regret her brilliant idea now.

"I dare you to kiss Flint," Alicia said.

"Alicia!" Angelina exclaimed reprovingly.

"What? She dared me to kiss Cedric!" Alicia sighed as Angelina continued to glower at her. "Fine. Katie, you can kiss McLaggen instead."

"No," Katie hastily assured the older chasers, "I can do it. I'll kiss Flint."

But it was easier said than done. Katie wasn't eager to ruin her reputation – after all, she was stuck here for three and a half more years – but she couldn't get Flint alone. The few times she saw him without his fellow Slytherins, she was unable to lose Lee and the twins in time. She had to stalk him for two whole days before she managed to catch him by himself.

Marcus was minding his own business, spying on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team's practice, when Katie Bell snuck up on him.

"Hi. What are you doing?"

Marcus jumped. He didn't answer her, since it was blatantly obvious that the window beside him provided a perfect view of the Quidditch pitch. He crossed his arms over his chest and scowled, waiting for her to leave.

She inched closer to him. "So Flint, er, Marcus. Can I call you Marcus? It's Valentine's Day tomorrow. I was wondering…"

"No, you can't call me Marcus," Marcus interrupted her. "What do you want, Bell? You are Bell, right? Not Spinnet?"

She stopped attempting to smile and glared at him. "Yes, I am Bell, not Spinnet."

"Did Wood send you to pester me or are you using your initiative?"

"I was trying to be friendly!" Bell said, looking offended. But she still stood there.

If it were any other Fourth Year girl, Marcus would have thought she had a crush on him. Not that there were many of those, but there were enough to make the crush theory logical. Except that this was a Gryffindor chaser, so the theory didn't apply to her.

"If you want to be friendly," Marcus said, "Just hand me quaffle nicely next game."

Bell sighed in irritation and twisted her hair away from her face. Then she moved closer to him instead of storming away.

"I wanted to wish you a happy Valentine's." She stood on the tip of her toes and kissed him.

Marcus was too surprised to respond, beyond his automatic impulse to return the kiss. Once he adjusted to the reality that Katie Bell was kissing him, he was still at a loss for the proper response. Had it been another girl tickling his lips with her tongue, he would have pinned her against wall and snogged her senseless. But this was Bell.

If Oliver Wood saw them now, he'd probably claim Marcus was trying to force himself on his chaser and assault him. But Marcus was perfectly capable of handling Wood and even welcomed an excuse to hit him.

She was only fourteen – which he knew should bother him, but it didn't. She certainly didn't kiss like a little girl.

There was Professor McGonagall. If she found out about this, she'd cut his balls off – or at least stare at him and lecture him until he was ready to cut off his own balls. And there would be detentions; Saturdays that could be spent in Hogsmeade wasted writing "I will not snog fourteen year old Gryffindor chasers" over and over under McGonagall's watchful eyes.

The decision was rather easy. As fun and enlightening as kissing Bell was, it wasn't worth risking McGonagall's wrath. Marcus pushed the girl away and ran down the hallway without a second look at her.

Angelina and Alicia didn't believe her. It was rather frustrating, to have worked up the nerve to kiss Flint then not even be believed. Katie pointed out the way Flint now looked at her oddly, but Angelina merely took it as evidence that Flint was planning something nefarious and told Oliver, who appointed himself Katie's bodyguard for the next week. Still, Katie didn't regret accepting the dare. It had been fun and she wouldn't mind doing it again sometime.

End


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